Chapter Three: Bubble Universes Are A Bitch
"So," The young man sat cross legged on the head of the knocked out Śes̩a, a cocky smile on his face. "I don't suppose a cutie like you comes around here often, right?"
Elysia giggled. "I'm here because of work, you know how it is."
He shrugged. "The uniform kind of gave it away, everyone's gotta eat. Shame you picked now of all times to pay Nagazora a visit, we're kind of in a bad way recently. I'd have shown you some of the city's best cafés and restaurants."
Okay, it was official, she liked this one.
"Name's Kevin by the way," the young man introduced himself. "Quick question, have you seen a purple-haired girl wearing glasses anywhere?" He held his hand around just below his collar bone. "Around this high… probably would look super cute in some red oni horns or something."
The description Kevin gave her set something off deep within the depths of Elysia's soul. An incredibly cute purple-haired girl in a schoolgirl outfit with red oni horns.
She really wanted to touch those horns…
"My, if I had seen a girl as cute as that, I'd have kept them all to myself~" She teased.
Kevin laughed. "Down girl, I've already called dibs!"
She pouted. "How stingy."
He let out a hearty laugh once again. "Hey, as long as she's alright with it, I'm happy to share with a cutie like you."
She made sure to keep note of that for later. "So, what's with the blue fire? It's really pretty!"
His powers were obviously Honkai related, she could feel the Honkai energy radiating off the flames, and his strength was far beyond human capabilities.
He shrugged. "Was on a date when all hell broke loose, blacked out and woke up in a dark alley with a sword through my chest a few hours ago. Now I have super strength and blue fire powers. Your guess is as good as mine."
At the very least he wasn't hostile…and he was easy on the eyes.
"Anyway, here's my plan:" He pointed at where the thunder and lighting of the eruption was most concentrated. "Find the source of that and smack some sense into it."
Where he pointed towards was where it was reported that Herrscher was most likely located. The sheer amount of honkai energy hadn't been seen since the Second Eruption and the awakening of the Herrscher of Void.
"Ah, I'm heading there too!" Elysia pointed out, getting Kevin's attention. "You don't mind a cute girl like myself coming along, do you?"
He grinned. "The more the merrier, but I still haven't gotten your name."
Things turning out like this was a huge stroke of luck for her. She was already planning on heading to the Herrscher herself to try and put a stop to things, but now she'd have some real firepower and speed in the form of Kevin here. If things went her way, they might actually be able to make contact with the Herrscher before MOTH gets to her!
"Well, my name is Elysia, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kevin!" She introduced herself.
Kevin hopped off the head of Śes̩a and gave a dramatic bow. "A beautiful lady with a just as radiant name, the pleasure is all mine."
"Oh goodness~" She felt her face genuinely begin the heat up, Eden was going to have a field day when she heard about this. "Flattery will get you everywhere~"
"I have to apologize for the lack of better transportation, Squiggles here might not be a Lamborghini or a Ferrari, but he'll do." He held out his hand for her.
Elysia barely suppressed her giggle as she took Kevin's hand as he helped her climb atop the honkai beast. "You called a Judgment Class Honkai Beast… Squiggles?"
He blinked, and paused in the middle of wrapping the chains around his arm again. "You call them Honkai Beast? Judgment Class? Oooo does that mean it's Super Rare? Did I win the gacha?"
Ah, that's right, despite his miraculous powers, he was a civilian. He had no understanding of what the Honkai was.
Elysia waved her hand. "Something like that. I'll have to save a more detailed explanation after this is all over." She poked him in the side. "Now, aren't you dragging your feet a little now? It's not nice to keep a lady waiting, much less two~"
Kevin cleared his throat. "Understood." Blue flames ignited across the chains once again. "Up and at 'em, Squiggles, I know you're playing possum!"
To Elysia's surprise, the Śes̩a groaned in response and let out something akin to a grumble as it's head, and subsequently she and Kevin, rose up. Elysia grabbed his arm out of reflex to keep herself stable.
Kevin's cocky grin returned. "Now, Squiggles, we've got a cute girl tagging along this time, so I want you on your best behavior, understood?"
The honkai beast let out a displeased growl.
"I'm going to assume that's giant snake monster for 'Yes, sir,' now take us to the source of this mess." Kevin commanded before he wiped the chains. "Now let's go!"
With a roar, the honkai beast named Squiggles took off through the streets of Nagazora. Empty cars were smacked out of the way or flattened as they made a b-line deeper and deeper into the city at a shockingly fast pace.
Throughout their little joy ride, Elysia kept her focus on Kevin's face. Gone was the cocky smile and devil may care attitude, replaced by an expression of complete seriousness. There was anxiety in his eyes as well as a hint of fear; maybe he was afraid of what he would find when they reached the destination, or could he feel the Herrscher's power like she could?
"Shit…" Kevin cursed. "It's taking us to my school…Senba Academy."
Elysia couldn't hear it through the high winds, but she could feel it through Kevin's arm; his knuckles popping. He was gripping his bat hard enough for his knuckles to go white.
Soon enough the academy in question came into view, it had obviously seen better days, but the building was mostly intact. What drew Elysia's attention though was the swirling of storm clouds above the building… and the purple glow on the roof.
"This is our stop…" Kevin announced. "Get ready to jump!"
She nodded. "Got it."
They jumped off as Squiggles went full speed ahead past the academy and crashed through several buildings and kept going. Elysia landed surprisingly gracefully onto the roof of the academy, Kevin rolled and entered what looked like a superhero pose.
Houkai Gakuen 2 - Diva of Disruptive World
"Ah hell…" Kevin's face fell as he looked towards the purple glow. "Yeah, that's just my luck, ain't it?"
Elysia looked ahead.
It was the Herrscher.
The first thing Elysia noticed was how empty her blood-red eyes were. She was a stunningly cute and beautiful girl. Her long purple hair flowed freely in the wind, her black school girl uniform was nearly torn to shreds, almost rags. Her left arm had turned purple, a white circuit pattern was seen across the affected area. And there was a purple wing of hard light behind her that sparked with electricity.
"Hey, Mei…" Kevin stood up straight. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to talk this out, would you?"
Oh… this was the girl he was asking about earlier, wasn't she?
"I…killed you." The Herrscher, Mei, said slowly.
"That was you?" Kevin rolled his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, your boyfriend's made of sterner stuff. Now, come on, let's go home, your father's probably worried sick about you."
Her emotionless face twitched. "Father…I…Kevin…" Her face twitched as she tried to say more words but just couldn't, then grabbed her head in utter agony. "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
An ear deafening boom came from the clouds as a giant beam of lightning crashed from the dark heavens onto Mei.
Kevin's eyes widened. "Ah shit, she's powering up!"
Elysia blinked and turned to him. "How can you tell?"
"What else would she be doing?!" He exclaimed. "I've seen enough anime to know where this is - DODGE!"
Elysia and Kevin jumped out of the way as a beam of pure electricity nearly vaporized them both. The concrete on the roof where the beam had passed had turned molten, and the fence where it had made contact melted almost instantly.
"Damn!" Kevin cursed as he got up. "Guess diplomacy fell through…"
Elysia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, her heart was beating faster than she'd ever felt before, and the smell of ozone in the air was nearly suffocating.
"Kevin!" She called out. "What's the plan?"
She saw him bite his lip in frustration.
"I…"
[-]
"I…"
Of course… Of-fucking-course!
I wouldn't be Kevin Kaslana if the universe itself didn't stab me in the balls and twist the blade! Mei, of all fucking people to become a Herrscher in the pervious era, Mei. It wasn't enough that she was going to hide her honkai infection from me and die on my retreat from the Herrscher of The End.
There was only one logical choice here: Kill the Third Herrscher. Kill Mei.
I couldn't.
There was no force in the universe that could make me kill her. Still, I knew it was the only choice presented to me. Kill her, or die and let countless others die before MOTH put her down themselves.
I hated it.
Worst of all was the knowledge that these new memories granted me. Elysia hadn't made her sacrifice, meaning that she hadn't imprinted her humanity onto the Cocoon of Finality, therefore no Herrscher could retain their humanity in this era. And there was no chance in hell I'd ever make her commit that sacrifice in this timeline.
There was no way out.
My mind took me to the soldier and symbol of hope of the previous era. The soldier, the dog of MOTH, Kevin. Though I hated that version of me, once again, I only had myself to blame. I could see perfectly well how I would've made those choices, to let others dictate my life. To let others tell me what was possible or not.
But here, in this moment, I vowed to make my own choices.
I took a deep breath. "The plan, that should be obvious, shouldn't it?"
Not for the sake of humanity, not for civilization, not even for all that is beautiful in the world.
But for myself.
I pulled on that mysterious power, my bat coated in blue flames once again, and pointed it at my possessed girlfriend. "Mei!"
It was a completely and utterly selfish choice that the Kevin of the main branch couldn't possibly make.
It was so utterly idiotic that it couldn't possibly come from anyone but a Kaslana.
Yet I couldn't help but smile…
"I'm going to save you!"Chapter End
